buckley



(N0 Mode l.) I 2Sherets--Sheet L E. M. BUGKLEY & A. JACKSON.

AUTOMATIG OAR BRAKE. No, 273,344. Patented Mar."6,1883.,

(No Model.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet' 2.

B. M. BUOKLEY & A. JACKSON.

, AUTOMATIG GAR BRAKE.

No. 273,344. 'Pat ented Mar.6,1883.

N. PETERS, FlwimLhhusflph-r, Will-Wilma. D. C.

- having the draw-head B, which is adapted, as

NITED STATES PATENT.

EDWARD M. BUOKLEY AND ANDREW JACKSON, OF SAN FRANCISCO, GAL.

AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 273,344, dated March 6,188,3.

Applicntionfiled October 2, 1882. (NomocleL) To all whom it may concernBe it known that we, EDWARD M. BUoKLEY' and ANDREW JACKSON, of the cityand countyof San Francisco, State of California, haveinvented anAutomatic (Jar-Brake; and we hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description thereof.

Our invention relates to a new and'useful automatic car-brake; and itconsists-in a novel combination of devices for connecting the springdraw-head with the braking apparatus, whereby the motion of the former,when it impinges against the opposite draw-head, is transmitted to thebrakes to apply them to the wheels. Thesemeans will hereinafter fullyappear in the description, and be pointed out specially in the claims.

The object of our invention is to make each car brake itself by its ownmomentum; to make the force of the brakes depend upon the momentum,sothat the braking operation shall be entirely automatic, and to provide asimple, cheap, and effective device for the purpose.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a bottom view of aportion of a car, showing our mechanism in engagement with thedraw-head. Fig.-2 is an enlarged view of same, showing device out ofengagement. Fig. 3 is an end view of the car.

Let A represent an-ordinary freight-car,

is usual, to have a longitudinal play in suitable guides by means'ot' aspring, 0.

0 represents the wheels, mounted on a suitable truck.

D D are the brakes, adapted to be forced against the wheels by means ofthe lever E, connecting-rods e, and main bar F, with which the chain a,attached to the end winding-spindle, G, is connected. This mechanism isthe common form of brake now used on freightcars, and its operationtoapply all the brakes at once is well known and needs no furtherexplanation.

The rod marked H, Fig. 1, is connected with the main bar F, and issupposed to extend to the brake mechanism upon the truck at the otherend of the car, so that, as usual, by the operation of the crank-spindleG, the brakes may be applied at the same time to all th wheels of a car.

Under the car, Fig. 1, is pivoted a lever, I, the point of which liesunder the shank of the draw-head B, and is adapted to be engaged by apin or lug, 7), extending from under the shank of the draw-head. Withthe end of this lever is connected a bar, J, the other end of which isbend-and is pivoted to V the under side of a horizontal sheave 0r pul-6o ley, K. A similar bar, J, is pivoted under said sheave, and isconnected, either directly F or through a rod,j, with the main bar F ofthe braking mechanism. The position in which the bars J J are pivotedunder the sheave is shown in Fig. 1. They extend past each other and arebent inwardly, their points being placed nearly in the line of the samediameter of the sheave-one on each side of thecenter. When in theposition shown in this figare, the bars J J and the intervening sheave,

K, form a connection between the lever I and the main bar F of the brakemechanism, and it will be seen that this connection is at its shortestlimit, because of the overlapping 7 points of the bars J J. Whenshortened up in this manner, the other end of the lever I is heldagainst the lug b under the shank of the draw-head, and sufficienttension is brought upon the brake mechanism to have it in readi- 8::ness to be applied when the lever I is moved; but to hold the sheave inthe position shown it is provided with a notch, in which a pawhi,pivoted to bar J, is held under the influence of a spring,m, impingingon its base. T is a guard for said spring m. Now, When the drawhead B isforced in, its lug b pushes back lever I, the other end of which drawson bar J. There being a rigid connection between the lever I and mainbar F through bars J J and sheave K, the main bar F is drawn upon toapply all the brakes, as heretofore indicated. Herein lies the automaticaction of the brake.

When cars are coupled together their dl awheads impingewheneverthemomentum ofone increases beyond that of the other. By themeans here shown the moment I that happens the car feels the influenceof its brakes and slows up. It is at once relieved by the separation ofthe draw-heads, and may run freely until it again acquires momentum orthe preceding car loses some of its headway. The effect of this isplain. Suppose along train to be moving along and a point is reachedwhere it has to slow up. The engineer applies the regular brake upon thelocomotive. The first car thereupon closes up on the tender, and bymeansof its draw-head all of its wheels are subjected to the brakes. Soon throughout the entire train. It will also be seen that the force withwhich the brakes are applied may be regulated at will. The momentumdetermines it, and therefore, on a downgrade, the train need not movefaster than the locomotive is permitted to travel. The moment one caracquires sufficient momentum it frees its brakes and is at once relievedfrom them, and according to the degree of its momentum the brakes areapplied with more or less force. The engineer therefore has the entiretrain under his control. All that he has to do is to brake thelocomotive and the train will accommodate itself thereto, even tostopping.

The great advantage of this device is, that each car performs its part,and therefore the brakes need not be applied with greater force than isnecessary to brake a single car. This is a great saving, both on thewheels and track. On ordinary freight-trains there are usually enoughbrakemen to brake a certain small proportion of the entire numberofcars. For instance, in a train of fifteen or twenty cars there may bethree men, who brake six cars at different parts of the train. Thewheels of these have to be locked firmly, because they are depended uponto stop the entire train. From this it will be seen what an advantage inwear and tear it is to make each car depend upon itself.

To complete this device we must have some means to throw itout'ofengagement when desired. There may be times when the automaticportion need not be used and the regular mechanism, throughthecrank-spindle G, be alone employed. As before mentioned, on accountof the position of the barsJ J upon the sheave, the connection betweenthe lever I and bar F is at its shortest limit and is rigid; but if weturn the sheave to change the pivot-points of the bars J J, as shown,the connection is materiallv lengthened and the play of lever I becomesinsufficient to operate through this loose connection on the brakemechanism. This result we accomplish by means of a chain, 11 attached tothe pawl t, and thence passing up the end of the car to a hook orsupport on top, as shown in Fig. 3. The brakeinan above, by drawing onthis chain, withdraws pawl t'fromengagement with the sheave, and thefirst time the draw-head is forced back it moves lever I back, causingit to draw on bar J. The sheave, being free, is turned to carry the endsof the bars past each other and to lengthen out the connection, as shownin Fig.2. There being now no strain on this connection, the lever 1remains back where forced, as shown in Fig. 2, and the lug b no longerengages it. Thepivots of the two bars J J on the sheave are nearly inline, and the force exerted to turn the sheave when the connection isshortened is for the most part resisted by the bars, and therefore thepawl t can easily hold the sheave and be as readily withdrawn. Then theforce exerted is suflicient to turn it and lengthen out the connection.When it is desired to put it into engagement we turn the sheave back tothe position shown in Fig. 1. This we accomplish by means ofa chain, 0,secured to the face of the sheave, as shown, and passing halt around it.It is led up beside chain at to the top ofthe car, where it also issupported on a hook. By drawing on this chain the sheave may be turnedto shorten up the connection for the purpose described. None of thismechanism interferes with the operation of the brakes through thespindle G and chain a when desired.

When the mechanism we have described is in engagement with the draw-headthere must be some provision made against sudden jar. If the draw-headbe forced in with great power, as is apt to happen, the brakes would beapplied with such force as to do damage to the mechanism; but to preventthis, and to break the force of the bump on the draw-head, we make thebar J, or its continuation j, pass through the main bar F and surroundit with a suitable spring, 17, as shown in Fig. 1. This has the desiredeffect of allowing the brakes to be applied with sufficient force,and nomore.

In order to insure the removal of the pawl i from the notch of thesheave K, we have a spring, 8, in the chain it, stronger than the spring122, under the influence of which it is held in engagement, so that whenthe chain a is hooked up the spring 8 will not allow the pawl to returnto the notch.

The pin or lug b, under the shank of the draw-head, is provided with afriction-roller, t, to avoid wear.

Our device may be applied to passengercoaches and street-cars as well.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The longitudinally-n1oving spring drawhead of a car and a brakingapparatus in relation with its wheels, in COHlbitlatlOIl with thepivoted lever I, engaging with a pin or lug, h,-

sisting of the bars J Jand intervening sheave shortening the connection,as described, and a means for disengaging said sheave to lengthen theconnection, all arranged and operating substantially as hereindescribed.

3. The longitudinally-moving spring drawhead B, having a l ng or pin,1), extending from underneath, and the braking apparatus, consisting ofthe brakes D, levers E, connectingrods 6, and main bar F, all arrangedas shown,

in combination with the pivoted lever I, engaging with lug b, the bars JJ, and intervening sheave K, to which said bars are pivoted on each sideof the center, as shown, and withwhich they form a connection betweenlever I and main bar F, the chain 0. connected with the face of thesheave and passing up to the top of the'car, the swinging spring-pawl i,engagingwith a notch in the sheave, and the chain it, connected with thepawl t, and

also passing up to the top of the car, all arranged and operatingsubstantially as herein described.

4. The draw-head B, having a lug, b, and the main bar F of the brakingapparatus, shown and described, in combination with the lever I, bar J,sheave K, bar J, and its continuing rod j, passing through the main barF of the braking apparatus, and the springp in its end, to break theforce of the draw-head on the brakes, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof we hereunto set our hands.

'EDWD. M. BUOKLEY. ANDREW JACKSON. Witnesses:

A. MAvERs, J. H. BLoon.

